Final Post

The Wrap Up

I think this assignment was extremely necessary for me to catch up on Web 2.0 technology. Of all the technology we looked at there were four that I had used before, Facebook, Youtube, Google maps and Wikis. Although I used all of these sites, I never bothered to stop and think how they worked, or how they could be put to use in a work setting. The social bookmarking sites, delicious, library thing and cite u like were completely new to me and I’d heard of RSS, blogs, podcasts, Flickr, Twitter and Mashups but had never been interested in using them.

However once I began looking into these technologies I’ve begun to see the benefits and potential use they can have for libraries and information professionals. I believe the social bookmarking sites, delicious, cite u like and library thing are extremely relevant to libraries. They help information professionals and their clients manage their information and make it easier to find the best possible information. I can also see Youtube and podcasts being very helpful for learning in the way of online tutorials. Wikis are also a great way of learning and contributing information, as are blogs but these are better suited for more informal chatting.

I haven’t been completely sold on the idea of libraries using Facebook, My Space , Flickr or Twitter. I don’t think it is necessary for them to have a presence in these areas but it is useful for them to know how to use them so they can relate to clients.

I don’t think I’ll be using all the technologies I’ve learnt about but I’m glad I’m not completely ignorant of them anymore. Having a good knowledge of Web 2.0 is also going to make it easier to keep up with new technology that is sure to develop.

On the negative side I did find this assignment very time consuming in that there are so many different sites for each kind of technology and its very easy to get lost in the information. I did not mind using a blog to record my assignment but it didn’t work that well for communication with my group members. We all left comments on each others pages but because we were working at different times it did not feel like proper discussion. However, it was nice to read their postings and get another persons perspective, especially when they chose to look at different sites to what I did.

On a whole, I feel this assignment has been a good learning experience for me and a good starting point for staying up to date with technology that I’m likely to use in my future career.

Google Maps

As you can see I discovered how to create my own map on google. It was relatively easy to do but I could not get my photo from flicka onto it. I'm not sure whether this was due to my own mistakes or if flickr is not compatible with google maps.
I have made use of google maps before, they are particularly useful for finding directions. They can also be used for advertising places and businesses and allow you to write reviews on places you've been as well as add videos and photos(apparently).

Google maps are not always accurate because their satelite images are several years old. There is also concern over their satelite images being used to spy. However google have blurred some images that are deemed a security risk.

Just a thought: Does the ability of anyone being able to write reviews on google maps allow businesses to attack their competitors? Any thoughts?

Google Maps

View Baw Baw Snow Resort in a larger map

Mash ups

To be honest, I must admit that most of the theory explaining how Mashups are created and work went completely over my head. I'm glad that it is left up to IT experts and not us. Despite my confusion concerning how they are created I didn't have any problem finding mashups that I enjoyed. I looked at several but thought that the postcode finder was really interesting. I entered in my own postcode and could immediately go to a link with all the census data concerning my area. For example the majority of people that live in my suburb are between 25 and 55, are mostly professionals and managers and the majority are women. Good to know. I can definitely see the benefits this site would offer when looking for a suitable place to live.

I also found a mashup that I thought was a really good idea. Its called Gigpig and its gets its data from LastFM, GoogleStaticMaps, GoogleMaps, GoogleChart and Discogs. Though after seraching for a few well known artists and bands I was very dissapointed. I couldn't find a lot of them and when I did the information concerning their upcoming gigs was wrong. Of course I could have gone ahead and added bands myself but Id rather be a user of a site like this rather than a contributer.

Flickr

So far I've found Flickr to be very slow in uploading my photos, one of which did not work! I've added Mei and Joel to a group I created on my flickr site and I called it Document Management. I eventually managed to create a link to my flickr site from my blog and from here you should be able to see my solitary photo.
Flickr allows you to upload profiles onto your own account and search for photos over the web. You can tag these photos and organise them. It also allows you to determine who you want to see the photos. Its system of filtering photos to stop innapropriate content getting through is stricter and more effective than that of Youtube.

I can see that Flickr would be an effective way to share your photos with friends and family, (something that I prefer to use facebook for). But I've also discovered that its a really great way to share photos of events you have attended with strangers. I've forgotten my camera on many occasions and I've been enjoying searching through flickr for events that I would have loved photos of.

Flickr

This is a test post from , a fancy photo sharing thing.

My Photo

Youtube, anyone can be famous

YouTube is something I've known about and made use of for quite a while now. As someone who finds it easier to learn things visually, Youtube is great for finding out how to do things. For instance whenever I'm stuck on a computer game level, I've always been able to find a youtube site that can help me get through it.
Its also good for a bit of entertainment, I believe it has become the new Ausralia's funniest home videos. Except without the terrible jokes and voice overs.
Its also being used by music artists who often release their songs and videos over youtube for some self promotion. Even politicians are using youtube because they've realised how much more of an audience it gives them.

On the negative side, Youtube has a few issues with controlling its content. Its not possible for all videos to be viewed before they are posted on youtube and so offensive material often gets though. Youtube relies on its users to mark inappropriate sites which they then examine to see if it violates their terms of service. (This isn't the best possible solution) There are also holes in their copyright policies, which have in the past allowed unauthorised clips of eg, tv shows or music videos.

I haven't yet tried to post anything on Youtube, and have no desire to do so. Yet I have looked at the process and it seems extremely easy. As you can tell, I have embedded several clips onto my blog which was also incredibly easy and does make my blog a tad more exciting.

Squidoo

This is a site that allows you to set up your own website about anything you want. Its completely free but what I'm really interested in is the fact that you can make money! However to do this its a little more complicated then I first thought. You dont make money off how many people visit you website but by adding money making sites like Amazon to your page, or by selling things. Squidoo also take a percetage off of what you earn to give to charity.

I got half-way through starting my own webpage and then thought better of it. The way your money is paid is through something called Paypal. According to Squidoo this is perfectly safe. But still, I'm not too keen on giving my financial details out to online sites without knowing more about it.

Library Thing

Library thing is another free site that you can use from any computer provided you have the interet. Unlike delicious and cite u like its all about recreational books. There are a lot of things you can do with this site. It lets you find books and add them to your library and sort them with tags. You can write book reviews, talk to other members, add your friends, search your local library...the list goes on. I think the best thing about this site is that it will make recommendations to you based on authors and genres of books you already have in your collection.

Unlike cite u like and delicious it doesnt include detailed reference information for books but is aimed as a more social site. I havent been able to transfer data from this site to endnote but if someone else finds out how, let me know!

Cite I like

So far I think I've found my favourite social bookmarking site. Cite u Like is similar to delicious in that you can use it on any computer as long as you have internet explorer, firefox or safari and its free. It allows you to search through online databases for academic articles and post articles you've found on the web. While searching through their journals I found several regarding libraries including library career development and library hi tech (one which I've already found helpful for other assignments.)

You can also find the more popular articles by seeing how many times they've been tagged. I'm just extremely annoyed I didn't know about this when I was studying pyschology in my undergraduate degree, it is so easy to find irrelevant information on the web but social bookmarking sites really help you find the useful articles. It also helps you find users who have the same interests as you and allows you to share information with them.

I was also very impressed by how easy it was to export reference information to endnote. Just one click and it automatically takes me to my endnote library. It also allows me to pick which style of referencing I want.

However I feel I've only just scratched the surface, once I get into the habbit of using them I'm sure I'll discover many more advantages. As someone hoping to be a librarian I'm ashamed to say that so far Im not finding the need to visit the university library because I keep finding so many great articles and sources online through the use of these sites.

Delicious

In regards to the questions set out on the Web 2.0 Adventure page, I thought I better mention that yes, Delicious is Free to join, doesn't require extra software and will help you search the web for whatever your after. It is similar to My Favourites except its better because your bookmarks will appear on any computer.

Delicioius

I've had a look at Delicious this afternoon and have found it to be a very useful way to keep all my reference resources in the one place. I've been using it on the University computers and am now making use of it at home. I'm starting to recognise the potential benefits in keeping all my resources on this site. Firstly my files on my home computer and my usb stick are no longer going to be clogged up with articles Ive been saving to them. Its also another way of ensuring I'll still be able to access them if I ever have problems with my own computer or lose my Usb stick.

So far Delicious seems to be fulfilling the creators claims, its also a great way of finding people with similar interests and allows you to add friends to your network which then gives you access to their tags. I managed to find Joel on delicious but haven't found Mei yet. Mei, Is your user name the same as your blog username?

By the way, I've been experimenting with End note and haven't found a way to transfer records from my delicious account to my Endnote library. Can either of you shed some light on the situation?

Week 4 Tasks

Hi guys, I've just been reading through the tasks for week 4 on Social bookmarking. We have to investigate Delicious but also 2 other sites. I'm suggesting Library thing and cite u like. What do you think?

Libraries on Facebook

I've been looking for library accounts on Facebook with the use of friend finder and am finding it difficult. I think its neccessary to know the specific name the library had used to set up the account or their email address. Libraries would need to do a lot of promotion if a facebook page were to be useful for them.

However I have found some useful library applications through the use of Search. For example Libraries Australia has an application you can add to your page which allows you to do a search for books in all Australian Libraries. (Quite useful, I think.) You can also become a member of other library related groups.

Personally I prefer the idea of having library applications available for use on my own page rather than to be "friends" with a library. If I wanted to get regular updates on what was happening at my local library I would look up their website. Speaking of receiving regular updates, Twitter might be a more useful tool for libraries. 140 characters is more than enough for a library to publicise an authors visit or a childrens reading. So many possibilities to consider!

Facebook Hurrah!

I'm getting an early start on week 3 of the Web 2.0 adventure because I was extremely excited that my addiction to facebook is no longer a waste of time but actually homework! Although I'm very familiar with this social networking tool I would like to add that under the guise of study and reseach I have discovered that I can arrange my friends into groups. This in turn allows me to stop some friends from seeing messages or photos that I dont want them to see. A very useful piece of information when considering that photos of last saturday night that my friends thought were funny might not neccessarily amuse my brothers and sister.

I've also added my buddies Mei and Joel.

Anyway I've got a bit more research to do on how facebook could be used effectively by libraries...I've seen a few examples so far and am not entirely convinced that this is the right Web 2.0 tool for libraries to be using. Further research is needed.

RSS, podcasts and Wikis

Week 2 has been a busy week. I've signed myself up for google reader which has enabled me to better keep a track of my buddies blogs as well as several of the library sites I've found interesting including LisNews and Library stuff. Ive also added tripple j podcasts. Although sadly I've discovered that the speakers on my computer are not working and that I must cull some of the music on my ipod to make room for podcasts...This could take a while.

I also had my first experience editing a wikipedia site this morning and have realised that the information on these sites is a lot more reliable than what I thought. I think the use of soft security (sort of like a neighbourhood watch on sites) is a great way to ensure that information on sites remains correct. I've also decided that having my own account is a much better option than open editing because it allows me to keep my privacy.

I chose to do a little editing on a wikipedia site about Manangatang, my home town. The information was accurate but I felt that it could be expanded upon. By the way, while I was searching wikipedia sites I found a great travel site http://wikitravel.org/en. So much more up to date than any travel book.

Library Technology Blog

Ok, so I chose to have a look at the Library blog, Tame the Web: Libraries, Technology and people. First of all I have to say that it has given me a lot of ideas for my other assignment on how social networking sites can be used in libraries. I think this blog is an excellent way for librarians to communicate with each other and raise issues or concerns. For example there was one post from a librarian in a rural community who was having trouble getting technological advice on Web 2.0 technology. Putting this concern over the internet would give her a much quicker response than any other type of method. However I also found from reading through several blogs that there are many ideas on which web 2.0 technologies to use and how to use them. But as yet there is no real agreement. The fact that some people were using twitter to discuss issues while others were blogging has created confusion. Clearly things would be made easier if all libraries could reach a consensus.

Editing

Ok, I've added a bit of stuff to my profile to make it a little bit more interesting. I've got to say that Facebook is a lot easier to move around on and find everything.

Introduction

Hi, first of all I want to apologise for my boring title. It was the first thing that popped into my head.

I think the assigment is definitely different to what I'm used to, but that is not neccessarily a bad thing. I can see a lot more relevance in learning about Web 2.0 technology by actually using them rather than writing an essay about them. Especially since I'm relatively ignorant about a lot of Web 2.0.